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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

John Saxon, Williams Smith, Claudia Jennings. A thrilling look at a professional racing team that does anything to get ahead, no matter what the cost. Directed by horror master David Cronenberg. 1979/color/93 min/R/widescreen.

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An early departure from director David Cronenberg's canon of visceral horror, 1979's Fast Company profiles one of his personal passions, racecars, in a gritty melodrama that also features exciting racetrack footage. Veteran toughguy William Smith is top-billed as a champion drag racer who clashes with the unscrupulous oil-company executive (John Saxon) who sponsors his team. Though lacking the gruesome clinical obsessions of his horror features (Cronenberg admits on the disc's commentary that the film was a tax shelter for its Canadian producers), Fast Company is also fascinated with internal machinery (here, car engines instead of human bodies), and it's easily Cronenberg's most approachable film, with plenty of automotive action alongside the solid performances (the cast includes B-movie queen Claudia Jennings in her final performance). --Paul Gaita

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

The 2-Disc Limited Edition was purchased impulsively on its street date release, after I saw it staring at me on a shelf at a local retailer. Having greatly enjoyed Rabid, The Brood, Videodrome, and Crash, I had long been curious to see Stereo and Crimes of the Future. Yet having picked it up for Cronenberg's two early features, I was watching Fast Company for the sixth time on Saturday night of that same week.Phil Adamson (John Saxon): You know you're out of your goddamn mind, Johnson. You're out of your mind, and you're over-the-hill. First you turn my trailer into a goddamn whorehouse, now it's an insane asylum!John Saxon's villainy as the FastCo oil company rep is hilarious. Aside from the wonderfully written dialogue, his facial expressions and gestures are fantastic. Lonnie "Lucky Man" Johnson's (William Smith) team consists of a Western genre family-like trio, with character names such as Billy the Kid, P.J. and Elder; all wonderful performances. Gary "The Blacksmith" Black (Cedric Smith) is Lonnie's top competitor. He is neither a one-dimensional friend nor foe. His personal team members, known as Stoner and Meatball, are a funny pair. Stoner is likable and not-such-a-bad guy, while Meatball is a classic A-hole. Candy (Judy Foster) is Miss FastCo, a not-so-dumb blonde with feelings for Billy, and who makes an admirable stand when her self-respect is threatened by her employer's demands. William Smith and Claudia Jennings are the long-distance relationship lovers that I, on a personal level, have grown strongly attached to. Both, individually and together, add to the film something magical and nostalgic for me that I find very rare in most movies that I've seen. The scenes involved with them makes me feel like a small boy spending time with a favorite aunt and uncle.Read more ›

Fast Company (1979) is truly great B-cinema despite the tendencies of scholastic indifference. Whether its lack of reception has been due to lack of availability, its straight-to-Beta stigma or, most probable, an audience's disregard for anything differing from the Cronenbergian macabre is open for debate. What is certain is that this effort, his first with a budget exceeding the million-dollar mark, was a precursor to the personal trajectory of The Brood (1979).

Divorce proceedings underway, David changed focus to his consuming passion of the automobile. The final product was a decent drag strip movie, "a good B-Movie" he admits. The good versus evil tension included in most racing films is combined with some point of view shots from the car racers proper, in itself, well worth the price of the rental. Spending most of the film arguing with John Saxon, his greasy sponsor from Fast Company Motor Oil, William Smith plays Lonnie 'Lucky Man' Johnson, whose iconic status as drag strip guru is tested race after race. His real stroke of luck however comes through his onscreen squeeze, November Playmate 1969 Claudia Jennings. This marked consecutive attempts at casting notables from the adult industry.

Attempting to recreate the similar appeal and subsequent audience draw that worked for him in Rabid, Ms Jennings' luck ran out in an ironic off-screen car-accident, taking her young life shortly after the film was completed.

Stereo and Crimes of the Future are among the best underground films produced in North America in the late 60's/early 70's, a time when Kenneth Anger and Martin Scorsese were also making their first films. Thanks to Blue Underground for releasing those two important productions (along with the great Fast Company in a fantastic transfer) in such a classy edition.May the experiment in telepathy begin...

Very enjoyable drag racing movie with an emphasis on Funny Cars and the ins and outs of professional team racing under a sponsorship. Filmed in Canada, the scenery is often spectacular as the racing teams travel cross-country to the next race. Great camera work with a nice soundtrack. Quirky characters,gorgeous women and thundering funny cars make this a film worth watching again and again. As a former street/drag racer myself back in the 1970's, something that is permanently etched in my memory was the sound of my brother Johns, lightning fast shifts on his M22 Rock Crusher 4 speed equipped, 327 powered, black '62 Chevy. Although the movies emphasis is on funny cars, there is one scene where a street-able muscle car GTO racer is banging the gears on a four-speed down the quarter-mile that reminds me of my brothers lightning fast shifts and which anyone who loves the sound of expert clutch work will be sure to appreciate. And, the scenes where the racing team pick up two super-hottie hitchhikers and where the lead character pulls up in his funny car on the street alongside two kids in a muscle car at a stoplight, are alone worth the price of the DVD!

I liked the footage in this movie, seeing it reminded me of the old days of racing,and I thought it was well edited as well. also you just can't beat the old "dry hop" after the burn-out it was cool to see that again (I'd almost forgot that's how they would put heat in the clutch). So I would recommend this show for any "old school" drag racing fan or for the current fan that is curious to see how it was done in the 70's and 80's.